IBEW union members employed by N.H. Electric Coop as they planned to strike over a contract dispute.

Credit Courtesy IBEW

A strike at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative may be nearly over.

The company says it's reached a tentative contract agreement with its union workers, who walked off the job more than a week ago.

The 83 union workers at the New Hampshire Electric Co-op have been picketing since May 7, in the first strike for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in New Hampshire and Maine in at least 30 years.

The union wanted more control over their pensions than the co-op had wanted to give.

Now, the utility says the two sides have tentatively agreed to a three-and-a-half-year contract that address the issue.

But the strike's not over yet -- the union and the co-op's board still need to vote early next week to make the deal official.

Until then, outside contractors will continue filling in for the co-op's line crews and responding to any outages.

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Rogers says it shows “disrespect” for the workers who walked off the job Monday.

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